Haines had recently been paroled from federal prison after bank robbery conviction

December 31, 2010|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD | matthewu@herald-mail.com

West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Harpers Ferry, W.Va., area man charged in the robbery of a BB&T bank outside Martinsburg Dec. 22 and the attempted robbery of a City National Bank in Ranson this week was paroled on Nov. 3 after serving time in federal prison for a bank robbery, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department and federal prison records.

Mark Daniel Haines, 40, had served time for robbing a BB&T branch in Mount Airy, Md., in January 2004, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison confirmed Friday.

Haines, who at the time of that robbery in Carroll County had a Frederick, Md., address, was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison in July 2004 after he pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery and attempted bank robbery, according to court records. Three other counts related to the same heist were dismissed, the records said.

Haines was released from federal prison on Nov. 3, 2010, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Internet-based, inmate-locator system.

Haines, who has been living at 152 Red Bird Lane in the Harpers Ferry, W. Va., area of Jefferson County, was captured Monday by police after he attempted to rob the drive-through window of a branch of City National Bank in Ranson, W.Va., authorities allege in charging documents.

Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow Friday arraigned Haines on one count of robbery stemming from the Dec. 22 BB&T robbery and set his bond at $100,000, according to court records.

Washington County authorities have said they consider Haines to be a “primary suspect” in a drive-through bank robbery there, also on Dec. 22.

In the Dec. 22 robbery at BB&T, police said Haines made off with $7,528 in cash, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records.

A BB&T teller told police that Haines appeared in the drive-through lane closest to the building wearing a black, reddish and white overcoat, sunglasses and what appeared to be a black ski mask or black rag covering his mouth, according to a complaint filed by Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael P. St. Clair.

“Mr. Haines then told her, ‘I know who you are, and I know what you drive, and you don’t know me,’” St. Clair recounted in the complaint he filed against Haines in magistrate court.

Then, Haines demanded $7,000 and said nobody would get hurt if the teller complied with his demand, according to the complaint.

The teller grabbed money out of her till and passed it through the drawer to Haines, who took the cash, but then said it wasn’t enough, and he wanted more, according to court records.

The teller went to a coworker’s till and took money out and gave it to Haines, who drove away, turning right onto Apple Harvest Drive toward Interstate 81, according to court records.

But police said he apparently didn’t travel that far in the black Ford Ranger, which was later determined to have been stolen in Frederick County, Md.

Police found the truck used in the robbery behind Lowe’s home-improvement store along Apple Harvest Drive, less than a half-mile from the BB&T bank at 1111 Winchester Ave., according to court records.

The stolen vehicle was recovered by West Virginia State Trooper R.D. Eshbaugh, who seized $220 in the truck, according to court records.

Items also found in the truck and seized by Washington County, Md., investigators included a black ski mask, 7-Eleven coffee cup and welder’s gloves, according to St. Clair’s complaint.

Lowe’s did not have surveillance video footage of Haines being there, but St. Clair said in his complaint that he and a FBI special agent later found a pair of sunglasses and another black ski mask behind the home-improvement store, according to court records.

Police discovered that Haines purchased a drink and sunglasses at ROCS convenience store along Kelly Island Road less than 30 minutes before the bank was robbed, according to allegations in court records.

Surveillance video footage reviewed by St. Clair showed Haines in the store with the ski mask on the top of his head like a hat and wearing the same clothing as the BB&T robbery, according to court records.

In the Ranson robbery, the robber was wearing an orange ski mask and glasses when he pulled up to the drive-through window in a small white pickup in The Marketplace at Potomac Towne Center, police have alleged.

Haines was captured less than 30 minutes after the robbery was reported Monday, but only after leading police officers on a high-speed pursuit in Berkeley and Jefferson counties.

In the Dec. 22 robbery of a Susquehanna Bank drive-up office at 17301 Valley Mall Road near Hagerstown, police said the robber told the teller he had a weapon, but did not show it.

The teller gave the robber an undisclosed amount of money, and he drove off, police have said.

In the Jan. 20, 2004, robbery, for which he served prison time, Haines threatened to detonate a bomb after driving up to the drive-up window, according to The Baltimore Sun.